Deepak, a 16 year old child with locomotor disability and mental illness, resides with his family in Raita village, Dharsiwan block in Raipur district. Due to his disability he was often socially excluded & ostracized by his own family and community. His family kept him hidden. He was not certified and didn’t have ‘Disability Ration Card’ in his name. Even in the family ration card, his name had not been included. Thus, he was unable to access food grains from the government PDS. The situation was identified by Samerth’s volunteers working on relief & support for Corona affected people.
Samerth team immediately took action and a monthly ration was provided to Deepak and his family. However, one of the greatest blessings from the crisis was that Deepak’s self confidence grew, he no longer looked at his disability as a barrier. The Samerth team was able to show his parents too that his disability was not something to be ashamed of or kept hidden. In fact it was their child with disability that helped them access quality and nutrition supply of ration during the covid lockdown. The Samerth team is now working to ensure that deepak can avail the government schemes and also help him get his disability certification.
